A person stands in a flooded area in front of a mobile home.
Can't Stop the Water
Still from Can't Stop the Water
Film Complete

Directed by

Rebecca Marshall Ferris, Jason Ferris

Produced by

Kathleen Leder, Rebecca Marshall Ferris

For 170 years, a Native American community has occupied Isle de Jean Charles, a tiny island deep in the bayous of south Louisiana. They have fished, hunted, and lived off the land. Now the land that has sustained them for generations is vanishing before their eyes. A host of environmental problems -coastal erosion, lack of soil renewal, oil company and government canals, and sea level rise -are overwhelming the island. Over the last fifty years, Isle de Jean Charles has been gradually shrinking, and it is now almost gone. On the heels of this tragedy has now come another: the BP oil spill, which left millions of gallons of oil in the waters surrounding the island, halting the livelihoods of many islanders, who work as fishermen, shrimpers, and oystermen. Those who vowed to stay on the island until it completely washed away now face an even more uncertain future.

For these Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians, their land is more than simply a place to live. It is the epicenter of their people and traditions. It is where, for eight generations, their ancestors cultivated a unique part of Louisiana culture. Our film tells their story.

Jury Commendation for Short Documentary

Durango Film Festival

Follow the film
Meet the Filmmakers
newsletter sign up